Wisconsin town already planning for Harley anniversary fest in 2013

Publish Date:

Apr 18, 2012

Harley-Davidson’s 110th anniversary is still more than a year off, but that’s not stopping some Wisconsin communities from starting their rally planning.

Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson in Theinsville is partnering with local merchant group Port Washington Main Street Program to plan an Aug. 29, 2013, rally they hope will bring at least 20,000 riders to their town.

The Port Washington Common Council on Tuesday gave Main Street approval to continue planning the event.

"This would be a massive undertaking in the least … the times of this event would be from 3 p.m. until about 11 p.m. The setup, though, would start the day before," Main Street executive director Sara Grover told Port Washington Patch. "The demographic [of Harley riders] is a spending demographic, and, of course, that’s what we want here in Port Washington."

Now that the city has approved the event, Suburban Motors H-D can pitch the idea of the event to Harley-Davidson brass. If they like the city’s planned event, the city's name will appear on the 110th Anniversary Celebration ticket as one of the places for riders to stop. But organizers say the festival will take place with or without support from The Motor Co.